Post-9/11 GI Bill

The bipartisan legislation passed by the Senate last week to address the Department of Veterans Affairs’ scheduling crisis includes a provision requiring public colleges and universities to charge in-state tuition to veterans using their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits regardless of where they reside. Public institutions would be required to charge the in-state tuition rate to veterans while they are living in the state if they enroll within three years after separating from military service …

Veterans taking advantage of their G.I. Bill benefits would be charged in-state tuition rates at any public university, regardless of their state of residence, under legislation approved by the House on Monday. H.R. 357, which would go into effect on July 1, 2016, is intended to help veterans attend the public school of their choice …

A new initiative in Montgomery County, Md., aims to make its public colleges the area’s central access point for veteran services, including mental-health counseling, benefits assistance and academic guidance. The elected leader of the county, a suburb of Washington, D.C., believed local college campuses would be a logical place to address gaps in veterans services because many veterans take advantage of the higher education benefits covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill …

University officials are expressing multiple concerns about legislation requiring public colleges to charge all veterans in-state tuition rates, including the potential it could harm veterans currently receiving benefits for tuition and fees through the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. Different versions of the bill introduced earlier this year in the House and Senate would deny federal funding to schools that did not offer discounted rates to all veterans …

The number of military veterans going to college has taken off since 2009 when education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill first became available. In 2012, 945,052 veterans used their GI Bill education benefits, up from 564,487 in 2009, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. Traditional colleges and universities have not been the biggest beneficiaries, though, as enrollment by veterans at for-profit private universities surpassed four-year public institutions in the 2009-2010 school year …

Public universities would be required to charge, at most, in-state tuition to all veterans regardless of whether they are residents, under legislation approved Thursday by the House Veterans’ Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee. H.R. 357 — introduced by the Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) and ranking member Mike Michaud (D-Maine) — is intended to expand the educational choices available to veterans taking advantage of their benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill …